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| Photo by Gabriel Matula on Unsplash |
Every writer wants readers to connect with their work. After all, it’s not easy to craft a novel, short story, novella, or memoir. Today I’ll share a key to unlock that mystery.
People want to understand your characters and go on a journey with them. To provide a mental escape, make the reader feel what your characters feel.
There are three ways a writer describes a character’s emotion.
1. Tell how the character feels.
Example: Tom was scared.
By saying it outright as a fact, the reader can’t feel anything. You could say it’s September and evoke the same level of indifference from the person. If you dump statements in the entire story, filter words, such as angry, anxious, afraid, happy, etc., the reader will lose interest.
There are three ways a writer describes a character’s emotion.
1. Tell how the character feels.
Example: Tom was scared.
By saying it outright as a fact, the reader can’t feel anything. You could say it’s September and evoke the same level of indifference from the person. If you dump statements in the entire story, filter words, such as angry, anxious, afraid, happy, etc., the reader will lose interest.
2. Show the character’s reaction.
Example: Tom crouched behind the building and trembled.
This is better than the first illustration, but too many actions without Tom’s thoughts fail to engage the reader. If several scenes require him to be scared, each version of showing him that way becomes harder. After a while, it’s difficult to top the last description.
3. Introspection. It means the character’s thoughts are open to the reader. This helps the reader understand the stakes.
Example: It was Tom’s second glimpse at the monster—two heads and four eyes that rolled in opposite directions. It's searching for me, and there's only one building between us. If I can make it to the hills I might have a sporting chance. If not, I'll die like Jase and Melissa, ripped apart by two mouths in a tug of war while the creature fights itself for the bigger share. Why did I ever come here?
I could have said Tom was afraid of the monster, but that alone doesn’t give the reader much. By letting the reader know what Tom thinks about when he sees it, I raise the stakes. The reader will empathize with the character and hopefully tap into his fear.
This was a quick example I made up off the top of my head. Some authors use a combination of the three together to make sure readers get the connection. Look at the passages in your favorite books for better examples. I find introspection is the best way to make the book relatable.
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